Brick-machine.



No. 733,338. PATENTED .TULY `7, l19,03. H. G. SMITH.

BRICK MAGHINII.A

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 25, 1902.

.YG MODEL.

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UNITED STATES Patented July '7, 1903.

PATENT OEEICE.

HORACE G. SMITH, OE DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-THIRD TO JOHN J. ALLEY, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

BRICK-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 733,338, dated July 7, 1903.

Application led November 25,1902. Serial No. 132,710. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom t may concern.'

Beit known that I, HORACE G. SMITH, a' citizen of the United States, residing at Detroit, in the county of Vayne and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Brick-Machines,of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

The invention relates to brick-machines, and is more especially designed for the manufacture of bricks composed of sand and cement. In the manufacture of bricks from this material it has been found necessary to compress the mixture in a mold. It has also been found difficult to remove the formed bricks without injury from the mold. The reason for this is that the fresh mixture of cement and sand has but very little tenacity even after being compressed, and consequently the freshly-formed brick of this Inaterial is very easily injured.

It is the object of the present invention to obtain a machine in which the brick is first compressed in the mold and then removed without injury.

To this end the invention consists in the peculiar construction of a mold having a removable bottom plate upon which the brick remains until set; further, in the means for compressing the material within this mold, and, further, in the means for removing the compressed brick from the body of the mold while maintaining the support of the removable bottom plate.

The invention further consists in the peculiar construction, arrangement, and combina` tion of parts, as hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure l is a longitudinal section through the machine. Fig. 2 isa crosssection therethrough. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of the molds. Fig. 4t is a view similar to a portion of Fig. l, showing the part-s in different position.

A is a suitable framework. Upon this frame is mounted a guideway B, along which the molds are adapted to be fed. Above this guideway is arranged at one point in the frame a hopper C, adapted to receive the mixture of material from which the bricks are formed. This hopper is so arranged that as the molds are fed in succession therebeneath they will be filled with the mixture, the rear edge of the hopper forming a cut-off.

Adjacent to the hopper C is arranged the compressor. This, as shown, consists of a plunger or die D, adapted to tit within the body of the mold and arranged above the level of the Way B. This plunger is preferably secured toastationarycross-bar E on the frame.

F is a vertically-movable bed or platen arranged beneath the plunger D and having formed thereon guide-sections E', normally arranged iu alinement with the guidesy B. This platen is preferably formed of a head extending across the frame and provided on opposite sides with shoes G, which slidingly engage in vertical ways H, formed on the frame. For raising and lowering the head any suitable mechanism may be employed, but as shown consists of a pair of links or rods I, pivotally secured to the head and eX- tending downward therefrom. The lower ends of these rods are pivotally connected with levers J, which are fulcrumed upon a shaft K, extending across the frame. The opposite ends of these levers extend into proximity to cams L upon the shaft M, which is shown as journaled in bearings on the frame and is driven through the medium of a gearwheel N and drivepinion O.

With the parts as thus far described it Will be understood that when the molds are fed over the ways B they will be successively filled with material fromV the hopper C and afterward will pass into engagement with the ways E upon the movable Vhead F. 'Here in the movement of the mechanism each mold will be raised by the(v upward movement of the head F to bear against the stationary plunger or die D, which will compress the material Within the mold.

As above stated, in order to prevent injury to the molded brickl provide a detachable IOO compared with the number of mold-bodies required. Any flat plate or board will answer the purpose,'such as shown at P. This plate is preferably of the same length as the mold, but is of lesser width, so as to pass between the separate ways B, being supported upon an intermediate table or bed Q. The head F in the normal position of parts is arranged in the same plane as the bed Q, so that as the molds are fed along the ways the plates or pallets will be fed from the table Q onto the head F simultaneously with the movement of the body R of the mold over the ways B onto the ways E.

The body of the mold is preferably divided by longitudinal partitions S, so that a plurality of bricks may be formed at the same time. The plunger D is similarly divided, and thus whenever the head F is raised all of the bricks in the separate compartments of the mold are simultaneously compressed. In the downward movement of the head F the body-section of the mold is positively carried therewith by means of guides or flanges T, arranged to extend over opposite sides of the body of the mold. These guides prevent danger of the mold-body sticking while in engagement with the plunger D.

For removing the compressed brick from the body of the mold it is necessary to provide pushers which overcome the friction between the brick and the sides of the mold. It is also necessary, as above stated, to maintain the bottom of the brick in Contact with j the plate or pallet P during the operation of disengagement. This is accomplished in the construction shown by arranging a series of plungers or pushers U adjacent to the die D, with which the molds are registered directly after passing out of registration with the compressing-die. The plungers U are secured to a normally stationary cross-bar V, which is vertically adjustably secured to the frame of the machine.. The ways E and the guides extend rearward from the head F, so as to support and guide the body-section R of the mold while in registration with the plungers U. The portion of the head which supports the plate is, however, cut away and in place thereof is arranged a platen W, the normal level of which is the same as that of the head and of the table Q. This platen W is supported upon the lever X, which is fulcrumed upon the shaft K, and the opposite end of this lever extends into operative relation with the cam Y on the shaft M.

The arrangement of parts just described is such that when the mold passes into registration with the plunger U the pallet or bottom plate thereoi` will be supported upon the platen W. Vthen in the movement of the mechanism the head F is raised, the platen lV is moved therewith, through the actuation of the cam Y and lever X, so that the body of the mold and the pallet are moved together. This movement continues until the mold is sufficiently raised to contact the upper face of the brick with the plunger U. At this point in the operation the cam Y is shaped to arrest further movement of the platen W, while the cams L continue the upward movement of the head F. The latter, through its connection with the ways E' and guides T, will continue to lift the body of the mold, while the plungers U will hold the brick from being raised therewith. As a result, the brick is detached from the sides of the body of the mold, and after the latter has been moved sufficiently to avoid danger of sticking the platen W is caused to descend. The cams are preferably so timed that the platen W reaches its lower position at the same time that the head F reaches its highest position. After this each cam is provided with a concentric portion which causes said head and platen to remain stationary for a certain in-V terval, during which the plate bearing the detached bricks may be removed. The head and plate are then lowered and held stationary, while the molds maybe shifted to register another iilled mold with the compressingdies D and to push the mold containing the compressed brick into registration with the plungers U.

If desired, the machine may be provided with automatic feed mechanism for causing the molds to be periodically fed in the inanner above described; but as this forms no part of my present invention I have omitted the same. Moreover, the machine, as shown, is entirely operative, as the molds may be fed by hand along the ways, one workman inserting the new molds and another one removing the formed brick.

What I claim as my invention isl. The combination with a series of molds havin g a separable bottom portion, of stationary extraction and compression dies adjacent one to the other,and means whereby the molds may be moved into contact with said dies to simultaneously compress the plastic material in one mold and extract the compressed block from the other.

2. The combination with a mold comprising a body portion and a separable bottom plate, of adjacent compression and extraction plungers, a bed or way over which said molds are fed to successively register with the plungers, and means whereby said molds may move upwardly to simultaneously compress the plastic material in one mold and extract the compressed block from the other mold.

3. The combination withaseries of molds, each comprising a body portion and a separable bottom plate, of stationary adjacent compression and extraction plungers or dies, a bed over which said molds are fed to successively register with said dies, and means for moving said molds upwardly to compress the plastic material in one mold and extract the compressed block from another mold.

4. The combination with a series of molds IOO each comprising a body portion and separable bottom plate, of adjacent compression and extraction plungers or dies, a bed or way over which said molds are fed to successively register with said dies, means for relatively securing said bed and plungers to simultaneously compress the plastic material in one mold and extract the compressed body from another mold and means for independently moving that portion of the bed supporting the bottom plate of the mold in registration with the extracting-die to maintain said plate in contact with the compressed body during extraction.

5. The combination with a mold comprising a body portion and a separable bottom plate, of adjacent stationary compression and extraction plungers, means for successively raising said mold when in registration with said compression and extraction plungers, and means operating during the latter movement for arresting the upward movement of said bottom plate when the upper face of the compressed block contacts with the extraction-plunger, and for temporarily maintaining said plate in this position during the continued upward movement ofthe body portion of the mold.

6. The combination with a mold comprising a body portion and a separable bottom plate, of adjacent stationary compression and extraction plungers, means for successively raising said mold when in registration with said compression and extraction plungers, means operating during the latter movement for arresting the upward movement of said bottom plate when the upper face of the block contacts with the plunger, and for temporarily maintaining said plate in this position during the continued upward movement of the body portion of the mold, and means for lowering said bottom plate with the extracted block thereon in advance of the lowering of the body portion of said mold.

7. The combination with a series of molds each comprising a body portion and separable bottom plate, of adjacent compression and extraction plungers, a bed or way over which said molds are fed to successively register with said plunger, means for raising a portion of said bed and lifting both body and bottom plate of the mold in registration with the compression-plunger and lthe body portion only of the mold in registration with the extraction-plunger, and independent means for simultaneously raising the bottom plate of the latter mold until the top ofthe molded block thereon contacts with the extractionplunger, for then temporarily maintaining said plate stationary during continued upward movement of said body, and subsequently lowering said plate with the extracted block thereon, and in advance of the lowerl ing of the other movable portion of said bed.

8. The combination with a series of molds, each comprising a body portion and a separar ble bottom plate, of stationaryadjacent com` pression and extraction plungers or dies, a bed over which said molds are fed to succesd sively register with said dies, means for moving said mold upwardly to compress the plas-V tic material in one mold and extract the com'- pressed block from another mold, and means for limiting the upward movement of the molds.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HORACE Gr. SMITH.

Witnesses:

M. B. ODOGHERTY, A. G. ROBERTSON. 

